McDonald’s Goes Back to the Basics with Chalkboard Menus

McDonald’s made Polish billboards unconventionally cutting-edge in its attempt to promote the freshness of its fast food with billboard-style, quirky, vintage chalk menus. Think of the folded colorful chalkboards many pubs and street restaurants place outside to alert people of the daily specials; McDonald’s embraced the idea of returning to more natural fast food and advertising.

With the help of designers from ‘DDB’ and graffiti artist Stefan Szwed-Stronzynski, McDonald’s abandoned its trademark red and yellow themes and immaculate burger photo ads for simple hand-drawn images and homemade calligraphy fonts. McDonald’s pushed its employers to change their chalk billboards with daily featured specials—another first in the usually fixed menu. The theme is au-natural and very basic—as McDonald’s promises its food is.